Method and means for winding coils



May 30, 1967 -J. B. LiNDSAY 3,322,164

METHOD AND MEANS FOR WINDING COILS Filed Nov. 10, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet l H INVENTOR. g dancc 5. 4/0054) fimmapw y 1957 J. a. LINDSAY 3,322,164

METHOD AND MEANS FOR WINDING COILS Filed Nov. 10, 1964 3 Smash-Sheet I N VENTOR. MAJ 756 5. (mans/9y y 0, 1967 J. B. LINDSAY 3,322,164

METHOD AND MEANS FOR WINDING COILS Filed Nov. 10, 1964 C5 Sheets-Sheet IN VENTOR. ohm-s 5 (was 9y United States Patent The present invention relates to an improved coil windmg machine and more particularly to a coil winder adapted for manufacturing filament coils or similar coils whereing the leg or end portions are straight and aligned axially of the wound coils.

There are several known types of coil winding machines which manufacture coils for filaments or other uses where 7 there is no particular requirement in connection with the exact position of the coil leg or end portions. Where, however, the coils require straight and axially aligned ends or legs these machines are unsatisfactory since the coils formed thereon must be subjected to additional operations wherein the leg portions are shaped and straightened as necessary. The machine and method in accordance with the present invention eliminate these additional handling and bending steps 'by winding a coil in the first instance where the leg portions have the desired straight axial positions.

Accordingly an object of the present invention is to provide a new method and means for winding coils with straight, axially aligned legs.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple and improved coil winding machine 7 for forming straight leg coils.

7 Another object of the present invention is to provide a coil winding machine for high-speed, automatic coil winding of straight leg coils.

. Other and further objects of the present invention will j be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part .of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the winding machine of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the winding head of the winding machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the winding head taken along line 33 on FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the spindle bearing block of the winding machine taken along line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the A winding block taken along line 55 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view v of the coil winding head and the winding block;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the winding machine taken along line 77 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged detailed side elevational view of portions of wound coils and the mandrel.

Automatic coil winding machines are well-known wherein coils are wound onto a support mandrel comprising a moving wire and wherein a winding head supporting a supply of the coil wire is rotated around the axially moving support wire or mandrel. These coils are wound as elongated coils of indeterminate length and the individual coils are formed by cutting the longer coils into suitable lengths. The legs or end portions are given their final shape by a separate drawing or shaping operation after the coil is cut. In these known machines, the separation of the longer coil into individual coils is facilitated by periodically increasing the speed of the support wire or mandrel which results in the formation of one or more turns of greater pitch. This provides bent leg portions for the individual coils. These legs still require a second shaping or bending action as they have a partially spiralled SA ape.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 the coil winding machine is a lathe-like machine having the winding elements mounted above a suitable frame 1 which is preferably supported on suitable legs 2 thereby providing space beneath the frame 1 for various drive elements which will be further described below. As indicated above, the coils 3 (FIG. 8) are preferably wound on a support wire or mandrel 4. The mandrel is removed from the completed coils by being dissolved or otherwise leaving the hollow helical coils in their final form. The mandrel 4 is supplied from a rotatably mounted spool 5 on the frame 1 at the righthand end (FIG. 1). The mandrel 4 is guided through the hollow center of a rotatably mounted spindle 6 supported at its central portion by a bearing block 7. The spindle 6 has a drive sprocket 8 mounted on its end adjacent to the mandrel wire spool 5 and rotatably supports a winding head 9 on its opposite end.

The mandrel 4 is continuously advanced through the spindle 6 and past the winding head 9 during the winding operation by a pair of gripping fingers or jaws 10 and 11. The jaws 10 are designated as the pitch jaws for advancing the mandrel 4 as the coil wire 12 is wound about the mandrel 4. The second jaws 11 are designated as the leg jaws which alternately grip the mandrel 4 to continue its advance through the spindle 6 at the termination of the winding operation to draw the leg portions 13 (FIG. 8) of the coils 3 as will be more fully described below. A means for controlling and coordinating the operation and movement of the jaws will be described below. In general it causes one set of jaws to open and release the mandrel as the other set closes on the mandrel and causes the closed jaws to advance and carry the mandrel through the spindle and past the winding head while the open jaws are simultaneously returned to a starting point adjacent the winding head 9 for the next cycle.

During the coil winding portion of the cycle, the spindle 6 and its attached winding head 9 rotate about the mandrel 4 which is being advanced without rotation by the pitch jaw 10. The spindle 6 is turned by a drive comprising sprockets 8 and 14 coupled by a chain 15 and driven by an adjustable speed motor such as the direct current drive motor 16. Motor 16 is adjustable for winding speeds from about 50 to 4000 rpm. and is disconnected completely from the spindle 6 for the leg drawing operation by a fast acting clutch such as an electric clutch 17. The spindle winding speed is begun and ended at the low motor speed but is accelerated for the intermediate portions of the winding operation to about the top motor speed by a suitable control whose operation and cooperation with the control for the clutch 17 will be described below.

A spool 20 of the coil wire 12 is rotatably mounted on the head 9. The coil wire 12 is directed over a pair of guide wheels 22 and 23 so that it is caused to lie generally parallel to the mandrel 4 and to pass through the guide channel 24 in the winding block 25 illustrated in FIG. 5. The winding block 25 is mount-ed upon a suitable support plate 26 which turns with the winding head 9. It is thus clear that the rotation of the winding head 9 accompanied by the advance of the mandrel 4 by the pitch jaws 10 results in a spirally wound coil 3 on the moving mandrel 4.

When the desired length of the coil 3 has been wound, the motor 16 is slowed down and then is disconnected by operation of the clutch 17. The leg jaws 11 now close and grip the mandrel 4 to continue its advance while the pitch jaws are opened and returned toward the winding head 9. A lock illustrated generally at 27 stops the spindle 6 at a predetermined rotational position to insure that the legs 13 are always formed at the same point on the circumference of the mandrel and to insure that the jaws 10 and 11 engage the coil wire 12 at the precise position desired and as illustrated in FIG. 8.

The pitch jaws 10 are pivotally mounted upon a slidable support for movement between a closed position where they tightly engage the mandrel 4 and the coil wire 12 thereon for drawing the mandrel 4 and'the coil wire 12 forward during coil winding operation and an open 'position for their return movement during which they by-pass the advancing leg jaws 11. The jaw support 30 is slidably mounted ona horizontal bearing rod 32 for movement longitudinally of the mandrel 4 and is stabilized thereon by the spaced rollers 33 rotatably engaging a. slide track 34 so that the rollers 33 run along the stabilizing track 34.

A pitch jaw opening cam 35 is slidably mounted in a vertical bearing block 36 on a support post 37 whose vertical position is controlled by a cam 38 and cam 'follower 39. The cam 38 is mounted on the horizontal pitch cam control shaft 40 supported by frame 1. The cam 38 V is shaped to lower the support post 37 .and the pitch jaw opening cam 35 to open the pitch jaws 10 at the termination of the winding operation and during the return of. the pitch jaws 10 to the starting position adjacent to the winding head 9, and to raise the opening cam 35 to permit the pitch jaws 10 to close under the force of spring 44 to grip the mandrel 4 and coil wire 12 during the winding operation. Gears 45 interconnect the opposite sides of the pitch jaws 10.

The movement of the pitch jaws 10 in both directions along the bearing rod 32 is controlled by a cam follower 41 and a pitch jaw moving cam 42 also mounted on the cam control shaft 46 having the slot 43 shaped to provide a properly turned forward movement of the pitch jaws 10 for winding and a return movement of the pitch jaws 10 during the leg drawing operation.

The leg jaws 11 are controlled by similar control means whose principal portions include a support 50 slidably mounted on a horizontal bearing rod 51 and stabilized by a side track 52. The leg jaws 11 are opened by the elongated leg jaw opening cam 53 and closed 'by' the spring 54. A horizontal leg jaw cam shaft 55 mounted beneath the frame 1 rotatably supportsa leg jaw opening cam 56 operating the opening cam 53 through the slidably mounted post 57. A leg jaw moving cam 58 on the cam shaft 55 is coupled to the leg jaw support 50 through the cam slot 59 and the cam follower 60. e

The two jaw control cam shafts 40 and 55 are con- .veniently driven by an alternating current electric drive motor 61 of the synchronous type coupled to the cam V shaft 55 through a step-down gear box 62 and gears 63 :and 64. The cam shaft 55 is coupled by a chain 65 to the :cam shaft 40 with suitable sprocket ratios used in this coupling as necessary to provide the desired ratio of speeds for the shafts '49 and 55. The cam shaft 40 and :55 may be continuously rotated and the forward and backward movements of the pitch jaws 10 and leg jaws 11 as well as their dwell periods are provided by the appropriate shaping of the cam slots 43 and 59 in the jaw moving cams 42 and58. Thus, these slots may be shaped as desired to provide for the necessary acceleration and deceleration of the mandrel 4 at the beginning and end of the winding operation and to provide for the necessary jaw dwell periods prior to the closing of the jaws on the mandrel 4 at the start of the winding and the leg drawing portions of the winding and leg drawing cycles. 7

As described above, a separate drive motor of the adjustable speed type such as the direct current motor 16 is provided to rotate the winding head 9 during the winding operation. The operation of the motor 16 is synchromixed with the movement of the jaws 10 and 11 conveniently by having its controls actuated by cams mounted on one or the other of the cam shafts 40 or 55. In the embodiment illustrated, the clutch control cam 66 cooperates with a switch 67 to operate the electric clutch 17 thereby stopping and starting the coil winding at the desired times. In order to stop and start the winding at a predetermined rotary is provided as best ilustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4. The lock comprises notched locking wheel 68 attached to the spindle 6 and having a notch 69 at its'periphery.

A pivotally mounted latch member 70 engages the notch 69 to lock the spindle 6 at a predetermined rotational position for the leg pulling operation. The latch 70 is held in its disengaged position during the winding operation by an electric solenoid 71 (FIG. 2) which is coupled in parallel with the clutch 17 so that the latch 70 is disengaged while the clutch is engaged and while the spindle 6 is rotated. Thus, when the clutch 70 is disengaged by the switch 67, the solenoid 71 is also de-energized permiting the latch 70 to move against the wheel 68 under a i the force of the closing spring 72 so that the latch drops into the notch 69 as soon as the spindle 6 coasts around to the desired leg pulling position. 7

In the preferred embodiment, the spindle speed is reduced to an extremely low speed at the beginning and at the end of the Winding operation to .faciltate the above described locking action as well as the opening and closing of the pitch and leg jaws. This is accomplished by slowing down the adjustable drive motor 16 by a suit! able synchronized control such as a motor current field control member 74 under the control of a motor speed control cam 75 and through the intermediation of a follower cam 76 on the control device 74. The control device 74 has its operation synchronized with the operation of both of the jaw moving cams 42 and 58 as well as with the clutch control cam 66. The synchronization of the operation of the several control cams is easily maintained due to their being mounted together on the cam shaft handling and shaping steps now required in the manufacture of this type of coil. 7

The new machine and method areadapted forhighspeed automatic operation and the means provided is relatively simple in its form so that it is adapted for continuous high speed operation and is also easily and precisely adjusted for obtaining straight leg portions in their particular position and length required. 1

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein. without depart! ing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood. that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

'Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Coil winding apparatus comprising the combination of support means for an elongated mandrel wire,,means for supporting coil wire for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the mandrel wire, means for guiding the coil wire to the mandrel wire surface, drive means for intermittently rotating said coil wire support means, first mandrel wire gripping means movably mounted for motion position of the spindle 6, a lock 27 ate the rotational movement of said coil wire support whereby said coil wire is a periodically drawn longitudinally along said mandrel wire forming straight leg portions.

2. Coil winding apparatus comprising the combination of support means for an elongated mandred wire, means for supporting coil wire for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the mandrel wire, means for guiding the coil Wire to the mandrel Wire surface, drive means for intermittently rotating said coil wire support means, first mandrel wire gripping means movably mounted for motion longitudinally of the mandrel wire, drive means for advancing the first gripping means in engagement with the mandrel wire as the coil wire is rotated about the mandrel wire whereby the coil wire is wound around the advancing mandrel wire and for returning the first gripping means out of engagement with said wires, second mandrel wire gripping means, and means for alternately advancing said second mandrel wire gripping means in engagement with said Wires intermediate the rotational movement of said coil Wire support and for returning said second wire gripping means out of engagement with said Wires whereby said coil wire is drawn longitudinally along said mandrel wire forming straight leg portions.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which said drive means for the coil support means comprises a variable speed drive.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which said drive means for the coil support means includes a drive disconnect means.

5. In coil winding apparatus having a support means for an elongated mandrel wire and means for supporting and intermittently rotating the coil wire about the longitudinal axis of the mandrel wire the improvement which comprises drive means for intermittetnly rotating said coil wire support means about the mandrel wire, first mandrel and coil wire gripping means movably mounted for reciprocable motion longitudinally of the mandrel wire, drive means for advancing the first gripping means in engagement with the mandrel and coil wire as the coil wire is rotated about the mandrel Wire whereby the coil wire is wound around the advancing mandrel Wire and for thereafter returning the first gripping means out of engagement with said Wires, second reciprocably mounted mandrel wire gripping means, and drive means for alternately advancing said second mandrel wire gripping means intermediate the rotational movement of said coil wire support in engagement with said wires whereby said coil wire is drawn longitudinally along said mandrel wire forming straight leg portions.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which said drive means for said coil wire support comprises a variable speed drive.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which said drive means for said coil Wire support includes a drive disconnect means.

8. In coil winding apparatus having a support means for an elongated movable mandrel and means for supporting and intermittently rotating coil wire about the longitudinal axis of the mandrel the improvement which comprises drive means for intermittently rotating said coil wire support means about the mandrel, first mandrel and coil wire gripping means movably mounted for reciprocable motion longitudinally of the mandrel, drive means for advancing the first gripping means in engagement with the mandrel and coil wire as the coil wire is rotated about the mandrel whereby the coil wire is wound around the advancing mandrel, second mandrel and coil wire gripping means mounted for reciprocable motion longitudinally of the mandrel, and means for alternately advancing said second mandrel wire gripping means in engagement with the mandrel and coil wire intermediate the rotational movement of said coil Wire support whereby said coil wire is drawn longitudinally along said mandrel forming straight coil portions.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8 which further comprises elongated cams for moving said gripping means between their engaged and disengaged positions. 7

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which said gripping means comprise pivotally mounted jaws, and said mounting means therefor comprise a pair of spaced and elongated support members positioned parallel to said mandrel.

11. A method of winding helical coils having straight axially aligned leg portions comprising the steps of intermittently winding coil wire around an elongated straight mandrel, gripping the mandrel and the coil wire and drawing them forward along the axis of the mandrel during the winding forming a helical coil on the mandrel, and intermediate the winding of the coil wire around the mandrel wire gripping the last formed turns of the helical coil and the mandrel and advancing them along the axis of the mandrel thereby forming a straight leg portion of coil wire along the mandrel.

12. A method of winding coils having straight axially aligned leg portions comprising the steps of gripping an elongated mandrel and coil wire and drawing them forward along the axis of the mandrel while winding the coil wire around the mandrel forming a helical coil on the mandrel, and thereafter terminating the winding of the coil wire around the mandrel wire and gripping the end turns of the helical coil and the mandrel and advancing them along the axis of the mandrel wire thereby drawing a straight leg portion of coil wire along the mandrel.

13. A method of winding coils having straight axially aligned leg portions comprising the steps of gripping a mandrel and coil wire and drawing them forward along the axis of the mandrel while winding the coil wire around the mandrel forming a helical coil on the mandrel, thereafter gripping the end turns of the helical coil and the mandrel and advancing them along the axis of the mandrel wire drawing a straight leg'portion of coil wire along the mandrel, and thereafter again gripping the mandrel and coil wire while again winding the coil wire around the mandrel to form a succeeding helical coil.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,816,594 12/1957 Van Broekhoven 72-66 3,031,006 4/1962 Fokkinga 72138 3,128,798 4/ 1964 Liebman 29155.57 FOREIGN PATENTS 865,896 4/1961 Great Britain.

CHARLES W. LANHA M, Primary Examiner. L. A. LARSON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. COIL WINDING APPARATUS COMPRISING THE COMBINATION OF SUPPORT MEANS FOR AN ELONGATED MANDREL WIRE, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING COIL WIRE FOR ROTATION ABOUT THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE MANDREL WIRE, MEANS FOR GUIDING THE COIL WIRE TO THE MANDREL WIRE SURFACE, DRIVE MEANS FOR INTERMITTENTLY ROTATING SAID COIL WIRE SUPPORT MEANS, FIRST MANDREL WIRE GRIPPING MEANS MOVABLY MOUNTED FOR MOTION LONGITUDINALLY OF THE MANDREL WIRE, MEANS FOR ADVANCING THE FIRST GRIPPING MEANS IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE MANDREL WIRE AS THE COIL WIRE IS ROTATED ABOUT THE MANDREL WIRE WHEREBY THE COIL WIRE IS WOUND AROUND THE ADVANCING MANDREL WIRE, SECOND MOVABLY MOUNTED MANDREL WIRE GRIPPING MEANS, AND DRIVE MEANS FOR ALTERNATELY ADVANCING SAID SECOND MANDREL WIRE GRIPPING MEANS INTERMEDIATE THE ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT OF SAID COIL WIRE SUPPORT WHEREBY SAID COIL WIRE IS PERIODICALLY DRAWN LONGITUDINALLY ALONG SAID MANDREL WIRE FORMING STRAIGHT LEG PORTIONS. 